Jose Mourinho backs England

Jose Mourinho thinks England have what it takes for a strong showing at the World Cup.

Premier League pedigree and Champions League experience should make up for the Three Lions' youthfulness, said the Manchester United boss, who has seen four of his Reds picked for the side.

Speaking to Sky Sports News, the Portuguese said: "They have a good group of young but experienced players.

"All of them play in the best domestic competition in the world, the Premiership, all of them playing for the best teams, all of them with experience of playing Champions League, which is a high level of football, obviously.

"So I think yes, I think they can do it."

Rashford misses training again

Marcus Rashford was again absent from England training as the World Cup opener against Tunisia edged closer.

The 20-year-old bolstered his chances of starting Monday's Group G clash with a man-of-the-match display in the 2-0 friendly send-off win against Costa Rica last Thursday.

England striker Marcus Rashford (Image: OLI SCARFF/AFP/Getty Images)

However, Rashford's hopes of featuring against Tunisia appear to be diminishing after missing a second day of training in Russia with a knee complaint.

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The Football Association indicates it is a precautionary measure and manager Gareth Southgate called it a "slight knock" upon England's arrival.

Messi on Argentina’s chances

Lionel Messi insists Argentina have what it takes to win the World Cup this summer.

The Argentinians were beaten finalists four years ago in Brazil, losing 1-0 to Germany thanks to an extra time goal from Mario Gotze.

Argentina nearly didn’t qualify this time around, relying on a hat-trick from the World’s best player against Ecuador to seal a berth in Russia, but despite the scare Messi still believes Argentina can lift the famous trophy.

Lionel Messi of Argentina (Image: Getty)

“We know it won’t be easy but I’m certain that Argentina has a squad capable of being a champion in Russia,” Messi said. “If the players all believe the same then we can be contenders.

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The former Manchester United chief executive, who is also UEFA's treasurer, was speaking to reporters after a joint bid from Canada, Mexico and the United States comprehensively beat Morocco in a vote at the FIFA Congress in Moscow.

There were two key factors in the United 2026 bid's win: it promised a greater financial return than Morocco and it scored much more highly in the technical assessments carried out by FIFA.

This is a far cry from when England were humiliated in the race to host the 2018 World Cup in 2010, despite getting a glowing technical report.

With the Football Association understood to be strongly considering another bid, Gill believes the national governing body should be encouraged FIFA is putting so much effort into the objective assessments now and its member associations are paying attention to them.

"If you've got a product and you've got to produce that product then it's up to the company selling that product to actually demonstrate what's required, review that, and then come up with the answer," he said.

"So, for me, I was very pleased with the process, given my background (as an accountant), and delighted with the work that was done over many, many months.

"What it does is gives great confidence that the procedures in place now are appropriate and relevant."